Am I Safe?
by summerlove-jls
Summary: "That's a very important question to be asked." Loki told his daughter as they gazed at her soul mark. "What will the answer be?" "Of course the answer will be 'yes', Papa." Hela said, shaking her head. "How do you know the answer will be 'yes?" He asked her. She did not have an answer for him. "You must begin working, harder than you have been, so that you will know the answer"
1. Chapter 1

AN: A one-shot for your reading enjoyment. Don't know where this came from and a totally off the wall pairing. I was indulging in soulmate fics this past week or so and got some crazy ideas…ideas that keep interfering with writing of my other works…especially since I ship my various versions of Hela with Bruce Banner. As will see in this story, Hela is not ruler of Helheim. This is a soulmates AU, where the first words your soulmate speaks to you will be imprinted somewhere on your body.

Trigger Warnings: Reference to suicide attempt is Loki's at the end of Thor. Aftermath of suicide is for the aftermath of said incident at the end of Thor.

This story is post Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but totally disregards Thor: The Dark World (it never happened).

The "Am I safe" theme is inspired by Ice and Fire by SteeleHoltingOn, on Ao3; specifically the middle to end of Chapter 18. (Ugh…that part got me right in the feels) While not a soulmate fic per say, it is an awesome story.

Also, the concept of soulmates being able break the programming comes from Breaking (Saving) You by Rainne on Ao3. Another excellent story.

Both are full of Bucky feels.

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><p>Hela was seated on the floor and against the wall of an unused warehouse. She didn't know what she was doing on Midgard but figured she would lay low for a bit and decide her next move. She knew her shielding had slipped when she entered the realm, but quickly concealed herself again from Heimdall's view. She needed some down time before she tried to assimilate into the masses of Midgard. Would the populous recognize her resemblance to the being that tried to subjugate the realm? Would they see Loki reflected in her inky black hair, green eyes sharp cheekbones and pale complexion or would she be able to blend into the crowd as Midgardians went about their lives?<p>

In her travels she heard rumors about Thanos and how deep his control over his "allies" ran so when she had heard about her father's attempt to take control of Midgard she knew something was amiss. She was instructed in the art of diplomacy and manipulation from an early age. If her father wanted control of a realm, he certainly would not open a bottle necked portal in a populated area after pissing off the most powerful beings of the realm. She wondered if Thor lifted his pretended veil of stupidity long enough to recognize a rather large shift in tactics from what her father usually used. Whether he did or not really didn't seem to matter; Odin still had Loki imprisoned in Asgard's dungeons or so she heard. She hadn't been in Asgard since about 2 months after her father committed suicide or attempted to commit suicide.

There wasn't really anything in Asgard for her anymore and she could not stand the hushed gossip about the fallen prince that was her father. Packing light and armed with the lessons her father had taught her and the powerful magic she inherited from him, she left Asgard and traveled the galaxy, exploring and just trying to find a new path for her life. While Midgard may have had minimal to no contact with the other realms, big news of Midgard traveled to a variety of areas. She had heard of the Chitauri invasion and her father's capture. And that was a startling surprise; to hear of her father's survival over a year after his supposed death. She couldn't bring herself to return to Asgard, though. She missed her grandmother and even Thor a little. She didn't know if she could face her father after he left her behind. She would have taken care of him. They could have left Asgard together, they could have stayed and she would have helped him pick up the pieces. She had worked hard to be the person who could do that for someone. It was certainly her imagination, but her soul mark burned when her father chose to die instead of coming back for her. It burned those two months she wandered through existence on Asgard before she left.

Soul marks for beings across the nine realms appeared at different times in life; Hela's appeared in early adolescence. Her handmaiden helping her dress the morning hers appeared noticed it and called for Hela's father. The handmaiden was dismissed to continue with her duties as Loki got a mirror so Hela could see the hastily written question that marked the first words her soul mate would speak to her: _'Am I safe?'_

"_That's a very important question to be asked." Loki told his daughter and they gazed at her soul mark. "What will the answer be?"_

"_Of course the answer will be 'yes', Papa." Hela said, shaking her head._

"_How do you know the answer will be 'yes'?" He asked her. _

_She did not have an answer for him, instead she looked to him, questioningly. _

"_You must begin working, harder than you have been, so that you will know the answer to this question when it is asked of you."_

"_The answer is as important as the question." Hela replied as confirmation._

Hela had continued her regular studies and her magic instruction. But Loki trained his daughter as a warrior as well; not a warrior in the style of Sif but in the style of himself. Hela trained in subterfuge and stratagem tactics, use of her magic in combat as well as small weapons. Hela became versed in the healing arts that were practiced in Asgard. She was sent to Alfheim to study the healing of the mind that was not practiced as widely in Asgard. By the time she reached the age of majority, her father had equipped her well. But he didn't use her talents for himself when he was in the most need and hurting and that was hard for Hela to forgive.

Hela was pulled from her reflection by a noise coming from one of the two exits of the warehouse. A figure slipped into the warehouse and stealthily moved throughout the area, reconnaissance apparent. Hela stayed still but did not try to hide. She watched the figure as he approached. She appeared unassuming; wearing a long sleeved tunic and black trousers that she conjured in a Midgardian style and her black boots that she left Asgard wearing. She had one of the furs from her father's sitting room in Asgard pooled across her legs. She didn't really need it for warmth. It was more for the comfort, for the reminder of what was once home.

As the soldier got closer she could see that he appeared slightly older than her (though she knew she had more years of life than him). He had brown hair that came to his shoulders. Shivers racked his body. He was wearing dark pants and boots and a sweatshirt. She could see that one of his hands was flesh and the other was a silver metal that caught the light periodically. Though he hadn't made eye contact with her yet, she could see the haunted look in his face and exhaustion that tainted his very being. He had a knife drawn in his flesh hand as he methodically checked the warehouse for threats.

Finally, he was within range and his eyes caught what was out of place. He froze as his eyes tracked over Hela as she sat against the wall. He made eye contact and Hela held his gaze. She had her hands open and out so that she did not appear to be a threat, knowing full well that she didn't need a weapon in her hand to be a threat or defend herself. The facial expressions indicative of the war raging in his mind were minute and would have been missed by the casual observer. Hela could see the lost soul break out and peer at her before being absorbed by wintery chill of the soldier. After a full body shiver rolled through him, the lost soul emerged and spoke when the soldier would not…a broken plea, a question. "Am I safe?"

Hela's heart skipped a beat. She inhaled deeply, remembering her father's words from long ago.

"You are safe with me. My name is Hela and I have an extra blanket, if you have need of it."

The man's eyes squinted as he looked at her and thought. Confusion marred his face. The soldier had not returned yet.

"Those…those are my words." His metal hand rubbed the inside of the opposite bicep. Hela assumed this was where his soul mark was.

"They tried to make my words go away, but my words kept coming back." The expression on his face evened out somewhat as the soldier came forth and the lost soul retreated back to safety. There was a few moments of silence and then, "You are not a threat." It was a statement more than a question.

"I'm not a threat to you." She replied. She did not move but added, "I have words also; they're on my shoulder. Would you like me to show you?"

The soldier thought for a moment and then gave a stiff nod. "Slowly." He added.

Hela kept her hands out and as she twisted around. She moved her hair to the side and pulled the collar of her shirt so that her shoulder blade was exposed and he could see his first words to her emblazoned on her skin.

The whimper of the lost soul was barely audible. She turned around and looked at him with kind eyes. "Do you have a name?"

He looked away from her as he thought. He stared off to the side, eyes moving unseeingly back and forth and his mind searched for the answer. He refocused on her, "I think my name is James." He kept his eye contact as he tried to explain things. "There was a man on the bridge that I knew." He said to her. She nodded her head to encourage him to keep talking.

"I know you." He shook his head. "I know your words…my words." He rubbed his arm again. "Your words would come back." He shivered again.

"James, if you sit beside me you can see both exits and the whole of the warehouse. I did reconnaissance before you entered. I have been keeping watch." She held up the fur in offering.

The soldier considered her. "You are not a threat."

"You are safe with me. I am skilled. I can help."

"Soulmates can potentially break programming; jeopardize missions. Soulmates are a threat to the objectives of the Soviet State. Soulmates are a threat to the objectives of Hydra. They tried to make your words go away. The Asset has no soulmate. Your words would come back."

"I'm here now. They cannot make me go away. Come James, sit with me."

A soft keening and the lost soul gazed at her. "I don't want to be cold."

"Come James, let me warm you. It's time for you to rest. Let me keep you safe."

The knife was sheathed and the lost soul maneuvered so that he was seated next to Hela, leaning against the wall. Hela pulled the fur up and tucked it around James. He shivered and leaned into her.

She heard him whisper, "Soulmates can break programming. The Assset has no soulmate."

She leaned into him and said low, "I am your soulmate James and I will not let anyone hurt you, anymore." She slid her arms slowly around him. She knew this was truth. She had to skills and abilities to accomplish this. Even without knowing what would be needed, Loki had ensured it. She sent a simple warming spell into James's body and felt him relax as he stopped shivering. She threw up a protective shield around them after she expanded the concealment spell to include him.

He dipped his head to speak softly into her ear. She recognized the cadence of the soldier's voice. "I am your soulmate, Hela, and I will not let anyone hurt you, either." He kissed her temple and closed his eyes to rest.

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><p>AN: Drop me a review and let me know what you think about this one.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So I have decided to continue this. Thanks for the comments, favs and follows; it really helped to motivate me and I have a lot of ideas for this story. I don't know if all the chapters will be this long, but there was a lot I wanted to cover in this chapter to lay some foundation. I'm also changing the rating on this story because there will be eventual sexy times...not this chapter though.

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><p>Thor touched down on the landing pad atop Stark Tower. He was returning after spending a few days in Asgard. Tony Stark had opened up his palatial home to his fellow Avengers. Thor was pleased when Stark had extended the invitation to his Lady Jane also. He gifted her with space to work similar to the labs that Stark and Banner worked in. His lady often traveled in her quest for knowledge, but he was glad he was able to be with both her and his new shield-brethren.<p>

He had heard interesting but not distressing news about his niece when he returned to Asgard. Heimdall had reported to the family that he briefly caught glimpse of Hela appearing on Midgard. She quickly concealed herself and Heimdall lost sight of her and could not say if she was still in the realm or not. Thor was not going to tell his team about this until there was reason to do so. Any mentions of Loki, even indirectly, was sure to bring ill feelings. Thor had tried to explain to the team that Loki's actions were highly uncharacteristic; but without Loki admitting to being coerced or worse, it was hard to argue against his actions. There was no need to drag Hela into this mess. Hela had been gone from Asgard for 2 years now. She had no contact with her family, including Loki. Others had given word when they saw her or heard about her traveling through their areas, but she did not stay in one place for very long. The family knew she was alive, but not if she was well. It was difficult telling Loki of Hela's departure when they returned to Asgard after the invasion. He lashed out and blamed Thor and their father for her leaving. Thor wasn't stupid, he knew Loki blamed himself; so he didn't take the bait and accelerate this into a shouting match between the two. He made it a point to tell Loki when they heard news of Hela. He had told Loki about the sighting on Midgard; he couldn't hide his quizzical look when he heard of the location. He told Loki that he would return to Midgard and would send word if he encountered her.

When Thor entered the Tower, Stark's body-less servant informed him that his team was meeting in their conference room and they would like him to join.

He made his way to the conference room on the common floor. The Captain had returned from the peril that occurred in the capital of this country.

"Hey Thor, welcome back. We were just about to start." The Captain greeted him.

"Thank you Captain, it is good to be back here." Thor took a seat and prepared to listen to the briefing the Captain was about to give.

The Captain…no Steve, explained about coming upon his friend he thought had perished long ago. Thor knew the feelings of the Captain. He came searching for Loki, thought lost to the Abyss, once Heimdall caught sight of him on Midgard after he had taken the Tesseract. Thor knew the determination evident in Steve's face; he had lived it. He readily agreed with the others to help Steve tracked down his friend who had been captured by the enemy and tortured until he was a tool for their nefarious deeds. With what Thor suspected, this was a quest very close to his own heart.

It was also the Captain's mission to eradicate this Hydra that was responsible for the destruction of SHIELD and the tortures that had befallen his friend. Thor was game for that as well.

Tony Stark had been using his technological resources to search for Barnes's face if it had been captured on the cameras dispersed throughout the realm. It was important to find Barnes before the Hydra found him and enacted their tortures on him again.

Stark shared that they had seen Barnes on camera at a museum that had commemorated the Captain's heroics along with him comrades from long ago. There was a monument to Barnes there was well, honoring the life he was believed to have given while serving with the Captain.

Rogers believed that his friend was breaking this programming that was forced upon him. He had pulled Rogers from a river after they had plummeted from one of the mighty air ships destroyed in the earlier battle.

He would help Rogers bring back his friend. He knew the pain behind the Captain's mask of determination and he would lend his talents to this task.

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><p>Hela had sent another warming spell into James when the first one had worn off and his body began shivering again. She had also used a calming spell to ease him when a violent nightmare caused him to thrash against her. When he settled, she pulled him in close and hummed the melody to a song Frigga used to sing as she wove in her sitting room. Hela could feel the strange pull that made her want to draw closer to the human in her arms. Something horrific had happened to him; something that caused him to be unsure of even his name. They would need to find out what had happened in order to figure out how to help and heal the broken man in her arms. At least now she knew what was pulling her to come to Midgard. She drifted back into an uneasy sleep.<p>

Hela woke to James tucking the hair out of her face, she smiled up at him.

"Good morrow." She said.

He nodded his head. He looked around the warehouse as they stood. The first light of dawn was streaming through the windows near the ceiling.

"We need to change locations." He said. The soldier inflection was distinctive. Hela was not sure if she was dealing with two different people or one person at war with different aspects of themselves in their mind. Hela had seen a body with 2 consciousness in it during her studies of mind healing on Alfheim. The second consciousness had awoken when the person had suffered great trauma while a prisoner of the dark elves of Svartálfaheim.

"Is someone pursuing you?" She asked him.

"I have broken protocol and have not returned to 'operations and storage'; I have not given a mission report." James responded

Hela nodded her head. "They're trying to retrieve you?" James nodded. "Who?" She asked.

"Hydra." He answered.

He had mentioned this Hydra before when the discovery of their soul mate bond was made. An organization, she thought. She deduced that these were the people who tried to remove his soul mate mark. These people are the ones who have hurt her soul mate.

"Was the man on the bridge a part of Hydra?" She asked.

James physically recoiled. "No." He said emphatically. "He was my mission."

"You were to slay him?" Hela asked.

"Yes"

"But you realized that you knew him." She asked.

"Yes."

"Then we must find information about this Hydra so that we may avoid their hunting campaign." She replied.

"Your manner of speaking is odd." James said quizzically.

Hela paused for a moment in thought. "I am not from this realm, James. I am of Asgard." She said as though this would explain everything.

There was no comment from James for a few moments. "Asgard…like the man with the hammer?" He asked.

"You know of Thor?" She asked in response.

"Thor, Prince of Asgard, known associate of Captain America, considered hostile to the objectives of Hydra." He responded in a rote way.

"Captain America? The Midgardian warrior with the shield?"

James nodded his head. "The man from the bridge."

"You think you knew this Captain America?" He asked.

"Yes."

Hela nodded her head. "I am from the same realm of Thor. Thor….Thor is my uncle." She said soberly.

James gave a quick nod in acknowledgement.

"I arrived here yesterday. I have not had a chance to assimilate yet or obtain currency of this realm. I think I was pulled to come to this realm to find you."

"Pull?" James thought for a moment and then nodded his head, "There is a pull towards you."

"You feel a pull towards me too?" She asked

James got a confused look on his face and shook his head back and forth. "No. No. The Asset does not feel."

Hela put her hands on his shoulders to stop his movements. "It's okay." She carded her fingers through his hair and he let out a pained whimper, but he stopped shaking his head. She pulled his head down to her shoulder. She was only 3 or 4 inches shorter than him so she was able to comfortably hold him there. She continued to card her fingers through is hair; it needed to be washed. She doubted that he had been taking care of himself since he was being hunted. That would change. She wondered when the last time he had eaten was.

He relaxed into her and tentatively brought his arms up around her, holding her in place.

She slid her hand from his hair and down his back, bringing her other hand to meet it and squeezed him tight. "We're going to figure this out; I'm going to help you." He felt him nod his head on her shoulder.

He straighten back up and they broke apart their embrace.

"We need to find sustenance. Also, tell me, do they have libraries on Midgard?" She asked.

He looked at her and thought. "There is a library nearby."

"Good. Do you know when you have eaten last?" She asked him.

He looked at her confused and shook his head.

"Alright. So, we find an establishment to procure a meal. I saw several on my journey to this storehouse. Do you have any currency?"

James pulled open a zipper on one of the pockets of his pants and pulled a stack of bills out. "I took this from a Hydra safe house along with the supplies in my pack."

Hela grinned. "Most excellent!"

Hela began folding up the blanket they were using and sent it into the astral pocket that she used to store the belonging she traveled with.

James stared at the scene with wide eyes. She smirked and brought the blanket back and sent it away again. "I have a lot of skills in sorcery and magic. This is merely storing something away. I can use magic in combat as well as my fighting skills and I can use healing magic. I can teleport and travel the space between worlds."

"You're a soldier?" James asked.

"I can be, if necessary." She replied.

He nodded his head. "Good."

They left the warehouse and sought out a diner nearby. They both stared at the menu, unsure of what the items were. Hela had been used to traveling to unfamiliar places and adapting so when the serving maid came to take their order, she asked for whatever was recommended for a first time patron of this establishment. She brought them each a platter with a stack of sweetened flat breads and breakfast meats as well as potatoes that had been fried. Hela partook of juice from oranges and James ordered a beverage named coffee.

When the finished their meal they left the diner and James led her to the library that he mentioned. The building looked impressive from the outside; the engraving at the top of the building proclaimed this be the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Hela was hopeful they would find the information they needed. She looked at their appearance; they looked like slightly disheveled Midgardians. They would have to correct that if they wanted to blend in more. She cast a spell over the two of them so their armaments would not be detected by the primitive devices located around the entrance.

They walked in and looked around. The technology was primitive by Asgardian standards but Hela was been using technology at various stages of advancement for the past 2 years. They sat at one of the workstations. There was only one selection on the screen, so she clicked on it. The screen change to an informative page about the library. In the upper right hand corner of the screen was the word 'search' and a space to input information. She used the clicking device to select that box and entered the term 'Hydra'. The screen changed again and brought up a variety of articles about Hydra. Hela began clicking and reading the articles while James watched and read over her shoulder. They both seemed to read at an equal high rate of speed so they were able to get through a great deal of articles quickly. It would seem that this Hydra organization had infiltrated the SHIELD that protects the world. Their treachery was discovered and culminated in a huge battle that took place not far from the location where they were. It also appeared that a lot of information about the SHIELD and Hydra had been open for the public to view.

Hela then entered the term 'Captain America' in the search box. One of the articles that was listed was about a museum exhibition commemorating the heroics of Captain America.

"There." James said. "I went there. There were pictures. That's why I think…I know my name is James."

Hela explored the information about the museum exhibit. There was a picture of James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.

"They thought you were dead." Hela stated more than questioned.

"Hydra found me." He replied. "The man on the bridge...his name is Steve

"You were Captain America's friend." She said.

Hela combined searches for 'Hydra', 'Barnes' and 'asset', since he had referred to himself as 'the asset'. The search led them to an area where these mysterious records that were released were. Hela began reading information from files that were decades old. She read about the programming that James had been forced to endure; the memory wipes, the cryo-freezing and speculation about assassinations that the asset of Hydra and at one point the Soviet State had been involved in. His code name was the Winter Soldier and there were questions as to if he even truly existed. She then found information on how they tried to destroy James's soul mark. The fury that was brewing in her when reading about the Winter Soldier programming came to a fiery boil as she read about Hydra trying to burn the words from James's arm. They attempted to slice the skin off his arm where the words were, but as the arm healed, the words reappeared. They added anti-soulmate indoctrination into his programming as they continued to try ways to destroy his mark. Vengeance flared within Hela and she felt the need to destroy any and all that was left of this vile outfit. Her soulmark burned as the importance James's first words of 'Am I safe?' became painfully real.

James had gone stock still behind her. She turned around and put her arms around his neck. She spoke quietly in his ear. "I am so sorry that I did not find you sooner. I want to destroy them."

"So do I." The soldier answered.

She turned back around entered 'Thor' in the search box hoping to snap James back from his current state as she looked into a benign topic. She started reading articles and noticed that there were videos from Midgardian recording devices from the Chitauri invasion.

She selected one of the videos from the SHIELD files. The first thing she noticed in the video was the Tesseract. She watched as a portal opened and figure appeared. When the figure stood, she gasped and flew back away from the screen in James's chest. He slid his flesh arm around her and held her close to him.

"What is it?" He said lowly in her ear.

"That's my father." She said as she watched Loki on the screen use a strange scepter to pulse power into several individuals before the video cut out.

"Is he here now?" James asked her.

"No, this was before the Chitauri invaded. He was taken back to Asgard." She said as she relaxed against James. She leaned forward and began to look around the computing machine. "Is there a way to obtain copies of records of information housed here?" She asked.

James pulled a flash drive out of his pocket and inserted it into the machine. "You want the video of your father? Why?" He asked as he began copying the video to the drive.

"My father's eyes are green. Not blue." She said. "Thor might be interested in it. I don't want to see him, but I might leave it for him, someplace."

"We've been here too long. We need to leave." He said and he closed out the programs on the machine.

They got up and made their way out of the library.

"We need a room in an inn or tavern of some sort for the night, so that we might formulate what it is we are going to do. We need to assimilate better and find a safe base for ourselves so we are not living in squalor."

"We should move across the city and find a room there." He replied.

"Lead the way."

They made their way across the city that Hela learned was called Baltimore. The area was full of Midgardians and they blended into the crowds well. They obtained a small room for the rest of the day and night that looked out onto a body of water, that the owner of this inn called the Chesapeake Bay.

James checked the perimeter and the room before they settled inside. Hela sealed the door with magic. They would know if someone tried to enter the room. They were safe inside and still concealed from Heimdall.

"We each need to bathe and we need proper rest in a bed and another meal at least. Do you have a change of clothing?"

James opened up the pack and took out his armored outfit.

Hela looked at the armor and then at what James was currently wearing. "I think I can conjure you something similar to what you have on now, I think we might have need of this one later." She said pointing to the armored attire. "Do you want to bathe first, and I'll keep watch?"

After they both showered, they procured food from an eatery close to the inn they where they were staying. Hela had created James clothing for the rest of this day and had restored his armored attire while he checked his weaponry that he was carrying in his pack. She also did some tinkering with her own armor, modifying it so that it resembled James's. It already did in a way as she had metal plating that was similar to Thor's. Hers was black and covered both arms and her chest, torso and back. She stylized her pants after James's and already had her own boots. James seemed impressed by what she had. She guessed that he was unsure of what she would be bringing to the table as far as skills were concerned. When they had time, she would take him to Niðavellir and have armor made for him by the dwarves. She would use her status as Princess of Asgard to give it a priority completion date; maybe she would have them bill the treasury directly. That would probably piss the Allfather off. Yes, that would definitely be the plan. And why shouldn't the family pay for armor to safeguard her soul mate?

While eating the Misgardian foodstuff called pizza they talked of their future plans.

"We need to leave Baltimore. Before we go there are 2 Hydra safe houses that need to be destroyed." James explained.

"Alright. Will they have supplies and currency there?" Hela asked.

"Yes. We will take anything we can use that cannot be traced. We will continue to use libraries as needed, but we must be wary of cameras and recording devices. Others have technology that can detect faces from camera feeds."

"Will there be cameras at the Hydra houses?"

"Yes and we will destroy them. We will obtain information from the computers at the houses and then destroy those as well"

"Where will we head after the marauding of the Hydra lairs?"

"North. Away from this area."

"Then we shall make more long range plans."

"Yes."

"Good. They have harmed my soul mate…they shall pay a very dear price."

When night fell, they laid beside each other in the bed. They drifted to sleep. Hela was awoken a few hours later as James thrashed about in the throes of a vicious nightmare.

He flew awake and began pleading. "No more ice. I don't want to go in the ice again. Please, please no ice."

He was violently shaking as Hela tried to calm him.

"James, I've got you. No ice. I promise, svass minn."

He started keening as she held on to him, his body continuing to shake and shiver.

"Come with me, James."

She helped him stand and brought him into the bathing room. She sat him on closed lid of the toilet and began drawing a hot bath. When the water filled had filled the tub, she pulled his shirt over his head and then wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. She kissed his cheek and then helped him slide his sweatpants and briefs down over his hips. She lowered him into the hot water and then drenched a towel and draped across the front of his body that was not submerged so that he would be surrounded by the warmth. She used a plastic cup meant for beverages and began pouring the hot water over him.

"James, feel the water." She said.

He started to protest but she cut him off. "James you are not The Asset. Not anymore. You are James Barnes. You are a person and you can feel. Feel the water, James." She continued to pour the water all over him. His shaking started to settle down. "Tell me what you feel."

"I don't know." He sobbed. "I don't know."

"Shhhhh. Close your eyes." He closed them. "Tell me what you feel." She said gently.

"Wet and warm. I feel the water." He said softly.

"Good. What else?"

"I feel your hand on my chest. I feel you pouring the water. It's warm. I feel warm." He paused for a moment and then continued. "I feel the pull…I feel the pull because your mine."

"Yes, svass minn. I am yours and you are mine. I feel your pull as well." Hela continued to cover James's body in warm water. When his body was well relaxed, she drew him out of tub and helped him dry and redress. She sent warming waves in the sheets and covers of the bed. When they resettled, she pulled him close to her and wove a spell around him for a dreamless sleep.

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><p>The team puzzled over the intel that Sharon Carter had sent their way. The previous day two more Hydra safe houses had been raided and destroyed. That made for 3 within a 50 mile radius destroyed in about a week. Money, arms and other supplies were taken. Computers were destroyed, after their files had been wiped. Cameras were destroyed; they were analog so there doesn't seem to be a way to access anything that was recorded before they were destroyed. Any Hydra agents on the premise were terminated. There was no evidence as to who had conducted the raids and their purpose other than pillaging and destroying.<p>

There was a potential that Bucky was doing this but no firm evidence for or against this possibility. There was only the circumstantial evidence from the hit on the facial recognition software that they got outside that library in Baltimore. The cameras inside the library did not pick him up, it was almost as if he disappeared in the library. They figured that he was in there, though. Jarvis was able to pull up the internet cache from the computers and someone had done some significant searching and reading about Hydra, Captain America, the Winter Soldier and strangely enough, Thor. They figured this was Bucky trying to find out information about himself. Natasha and Clint had headed to Baltimore to do some investigating of their own but at their last check in nothing fruitful had been discovered. The team would continue to use the facial recognition software to search for Bucky as well as any lead from those they could trust in hopes that they would be able to find him before the remnants of Hydra did.

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><p>AN: sváss minn: my beloved<p>

Please let me know what you think. The previous comments really helped motivate me, so keep them coming.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: We're going to be using a more omniscient narration instead of the limited point of view we have been having in the first couple of chapters.

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><p>The raid on the safe houses yielded several thousand dollars, ammunition and a few more firearms. James took some of that money and bought a used car from a somewhat shady dealer who was able to place clean tags on the car and ignore their lack of identification for a little extra money thrown in. It helped that they were paying in cash. Once in the car they headed out of the city. James stayed off I-95, the main thoroughfare up the east coast of the US, instead he chose smaller interstates that weaved their way north, but taking a more winding path. Once the city was behind them, they both seemed to visibly relax.<p>

Hela stared out the windows at the road. Midgardians had come a long way from what she heard. While they didn't have the smaller scale jet propulsion that other places had, allowing hovering and flying vehicles to be used by the populous; they made due with the technology they did have. These vehicles served their purpose, even though they were a little slower than she was used to.

James broke the silence. "There's another smaller safe house I want to hit about an hour from here. We can stop in a little bit and obtain clothes and food." James said as he focused on the road in front of him.

His training was evident to Hela as they moved seamlessly from taking out the safe house and obtaining transportation.

She nodded her head, assenting. She thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you want to continue to wear your same armor that you wore when you were their asset?"

"Yes. I want them to know who is coming for them." He responded, satisfied.

Hela smiled at his response. "Do you mind that I copied some of your design?" She asked.

"Well, you had the metal armor before you met me, so that was your own. I kind of liked that you used the rest, especially the goggles and mask. They knew who I was, even though my face was covered…they didn't know who you were and when you shot those energy beams out of your hands they didn't know what to do. Between me and then the unknown of you…they were scared shitless. Pretty effective." He answered.

James had to admit to himself that he almost lost his focus when she took out two Hydra agents with a beam of light that seemed to shoot out of her palm. Her knife throwing was impressive; he was interested to see what she could do in more close combat. He didn't know what to expect from her. She had told him that she was trained in combat, but he wasn't expecting such an elevated skill set. He would have been impressed with something along the lines of the Hydra/SHIELD Strike Team. But she was as strong as him and fast. And this magic stuff was hard to believe and he had seen it. He hadn't expected her to be a liability, but he wasn't expecting her to be the resource that she was either. His thoughts on this were clear. This string of reasoning fell in line with assessments he would have done as the Winter Soldier, this he knew and was comfortable. His mind was often muddled, lately, since breaking protocol and not reporting back to Hydra. Sometimes it was hard to think and process when not doing work that the Soldier would do. He supposed that's how he had the frame of mind to remove the tracker in his arm…that would be something the Winter Solder would do. But since coming across Hela in that warehouse the day before yesterday, things seemed clearer. He didn't know why but he wanted to trust her, to stay with her; it must be because of the soul bond. When she said she wanted to destroy Hydra, he knew he wanted to as well. His mind began formulating the plans that they carried out earlier. Today had been a good day, though he was relying heavily on the Asset's training. He didn't feel himself slipping away and falling into that frame of mind as much though. Hela had told him last night that he wasn't The Asset anymore. He didn't remember really anything from before. He knew he hadn't always been The Winter Soldier; but he only knew that he was James Barnes from what he had read. He didn't know really what it meant to be James Barnes. He did know that it meant that he was soul mates with Hela, who was from another planet and related to a prince.

"If Thor is your uncle, does that mean you are a princess?" He asked her.

She chuckled to herself. "Yes. My father is the Second Prince of Asgard, making me Princess of Asgard and third in line for the throne. Though that might of have changed, since my father's actions probably caused him to be removed from the line of succession."

"And you were spending the night in an abandoned warehouse on Earth?" He questioned.

"I left Asgard a few months after my father's supposed suicide." She shrugged her shoulders. I've been wandering around the galaxy, just…existing. I haven't talked to any of my family since I left. I heard about my father and the invasion through information outlets in the part of the galaxy I was in at the time. Big news about Midgard travels, though most of the time, others are not interested in this realm. I had been aimless in my travels as of late and contemplated actually visiting my uncle, who is the king of Alfheim, instead of just going to the realm without making it known. But as I got closer, I felt this need to come to Midgard instead. Midgard was very different than I was expecting but not hugely different from some other places I have been. I picked to warehouse to give me time to formulate what I was going to do on Midgard and figure out why I wanted to come here. It was then that you came upon me."

"So you are this exotic space traveler princess and I have spent the last 70 years going from being on ice to being apparently one of the deadliest assassins in the world." James concluded.

"And you were friends with Captain America." She added.

"And I was friends with Captain America." He mimicked back.

Hela smiled as his repetition. "James, there are so many places I want to show you when we have completed our mission. Well, we may have to take a break in order to take part in the festival of love on Alfheim. But when we are done there is the harvest on Vannaheim. I want to take you to the dwarves and have them craft armor for you that I will enchant so that you can call it forth whenever you have need of it. And I want to explore Midgard with you." Hela said wistfully.

"But not Asgard?" He asked gently.

Hela shook her head minutely. "I have no wish to return to Asgard. Though, I do wish for you to meet my grandmother and my brother, Sleipnir."

After a moment, James held out his right hand to her, palm up. She looked up at him and met his kind eyes briefly before he turned back to the road. She took his hand and he intertwined their fingers together. She wondered to herself for a moment if this was 'Bucky Barnes' holding her hand.

* * *

><p>"He fucking stopped at Walmart before he knocked over a Hydra safe house. Who they hell is this guy?" Tony said shaking his head.<p>

Again Bucky's face had been picked up for a split second on an outside camera of a Walmart in central Maryland before he seemed to disappear again. It was if someone was sabotaging the cameras, but not quite fast enough for the last one not to pick his face up. But the cameras weren't sabotaged; they were working fine in the store without interruption.

"Do we know if he shoplifted or if he paid for whatever he got?" Bruce asked.

"We don't know. If he paid, he probably paid with cash." Steve answered.

"Where would he have gotten cash?" Tony asked. "Would he have pickpocketed?"

"You know, most SHIELD safe houses contain cash." Clint said.

"Outpost and houses for the Red Room did as well." Natasha added.

"So is his goal to destroy the safe houses or his goal to get things he needs." Bruce asked.

"Maybe both. We don't know how much programming is intact or what his frame of mind is." Steve answered.

"Perhaps his main focus is survival right now and he is doing what he must to make that happen." Thor though at loud.

"It would make sense, he's moving away from DC and hitting spots he apparently knows about." Clint said looking at the images from the latest Hydra safe house that was taken out near an Army base in Maryland named Ft. Detrick.

"If he's getting cash and arms at each safe house, then that would aid him until his next hit." Bruce reasoned.

"Now if we could only narrow down where that would be, we might be able to head him off and bring him home." Steve said solemnly.

* * *

><p>Hela enjoyed partaking in the indoor market of goods that they had visited before they destroyed the Hydra house, but she suspected that these goods were not the highest quality available in the realm. However, they served their need and she liked that they each had several outfits of clothing to wear. She had told James that she craved sugar after using magic during battle; so he helped her choose a variety of sugary foodstuffs from the selection offered. She made sure that James obtained food for himself until their next full meal. James's appetite was near to an Aesir's; she assumed it was from the serum the Hydra injected him with; so they were on par with each other in their need to consume calories. James, sometimes, needed to be reminded to eat. Hela had seen in one of the files about the Winter Soldier that he had been trained to ignore hunger during missions and was sometimes fed intravenously.<p>

They had been driving for several hours and had stopped for their evening meal. They drove a little while longer and ended up outside of Philadelphia. They would hit a small base located on one end of the city the day after tomorrow. They checked into a mid-grade hotel room and settled in for the evening. They would strategize tomorrow.

Hela warmed the sheets and blankets as she did before. She didn't use the dreamless sleep spell on James again but asked him if he wanted to see if a calming spell would help him sleep better. He agreed to give it a try. They settled down into bed, each of them laying on their backs starting up at the ceiling.

"I want to lay closer to you." Hela said in the dark.

"I want you to." James answered.

Hela shifted closer and tentatively laid her head on his bare chest. James's metal arm came up around her back and pulled her close, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"I'm glad we found each other." He said as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"I, as well." She sighed as she closed her eyes.

They both drifted off to sleep shortly after.

The next morning they began making plans for the destruction of the small base they had come here to destroy. This was larger than the safe houses they had been hitting and their swiftness and precision would be needed to carry this out before reinforcements could be alerted. The building housing the secret base was outlined on a map of the city and James had drawn the basic schematics of the building in a notebook that he used as he relayed his plan for taking the base out. They fit well together in this. He had the ability to draft the strategies for taking out their targets and the skill to carry the plans into fruition. She had the ability to carry out what he needed to be done with exactitude and a vicious gracefulness that was a part of her very being. She was not his tool to be used, though. She was his scaffolding, built around him, supporting his structure, reinforcing his weak spots. Collapsing and reforming around him when their situation changed and he needed someone to keep him warm when dreams of freezing and pain plagued his sleep.

On their driving trip from Baltimore, Hela explained some of the magic she could use that would be helpful and effective in their missions. She would weave a spell of protection around James and would have a shield around him as they moved through the base. James was disbelieving when the effects of the shield were explained. Bullets from the human's guns seem to have no effect on Hela, so she would only throw up as shield as needed based on what types of advanced weaponry the targets had at their disposal.

James was intrigued with the concept of teleportation. This would save time and resources and they would be able to maintain a safe home quarters since it would be virtually impossible for anyone to track them.

Hela could easily transport another person with her. She had known how to teleport since she was a child. Her father was constantly working with her to build, refine and strengthen her skills. Loki was the most powerful sorcerer in the nine realms, and it made sense Hela was not far off from him. James, however, would need practice in teleporting. It was not an unpleasant sensation, but it was one that someone would need to get used to.

Today they would practice.

"It won't feel as disquieting if I hold you close to me the first few times we do this, until you get use to the sensations." She explained.

"Does that mean, you'll stop when I am well-practiced?" James asked with a raise of his eyebrow and a quirk of his lip.

"Oh no, sváss minn…I shall hold you close, always." She responded with a wink and a smile.

They stood near the door of their room. Hela stood against James's body, she draped her left arm around James's neck. His right arm moved around her waist and he held her snug against him. In an instant they were gone and appeared across the room in front of the bathroom.

Easing a bit in his hold, James gave a succession of quick deep breaths.

"Are you well, ástin mínn?" She asked kneading her fingers and thumbs into the base of his neck, massaging.

James nodded his head. "Yes. It felt different. Not bad, but strange."

When he regained his composure, they resumed their previous positioning and she sent them back across the room. For the rest of the afternoon they continued practicing teleportation, by the end of their session they had practice moving into formation when they reappeared. James had gotten use to the sensations and the feeling had become a reminder of how special his soul mate was and how much he valued her even though they had known each other less than a week. He did not want to imagine trying to continue on without the clarity and warmth she brought to him. Each day the pull towards her was stronger and stronger as his mind became clearer and clearer.

Evening fell and they ate pizza for dinner again. It was convenient and Hela freely admitted she found it quite tasty. They were seated on the floor across from each other, with James leaning against the side of the bed. As they finished, James broke their comfortable silence. "Tell me about your brother. You said that you were third in line for the throne, does that mean he's younger?"

Hela's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "No, he's older, but he is not in line for the throne." Hela watched James's face as she made the next statement. "My brother, Sleipnir, is the king, Odin Allfather's, war steed."

Confusion filled James's eyes and face. "Steed is a horse?"

"Yes."

"Your brother is a horse?"

"Yes."

Hela only left James flounder in confusion for a moment. "My father is a gifted shape-shifter. Without indulging in a long tale, the basic story is that my father shifted his form to that of a mare in heat and led away a mighty stallion in order to save Asgard from a large blunder on their part. The mighty stallion caught up with the mare and Loki became impregnated. He shifted shapes and forms throughout the pregnancy so that he could carry the foal to term and birth the eight-legged colt. Sleipnir is imbued with innate magic, though he is still a horse, he is a magical, intelligent being and the only one worthy to carry the King of Asgard." Hela created a small illusion of her brother to show James what he looked like.

"Your brother looks unbelievably amazing."

"He is. I hope that one day you might meet him."

They fell back into companionable silence for a few moments.

"I remember" James started. "I remember living in Brooklyn when I was young. It's part of New York City. And I remember sisters, but I don't know how many and I don't remember much about them…yet." James gave a little broken smile and nodded his head.

Hela gave him a warm smile back and cupped his face in her hand, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. He reached up and held her hand in place. They stared intently into each other eyes. Slowly and tentatively they moved into each other, capturing each other lips in a soft embrace. Timid at first, their lips moved, melding together as if a matching set had be joined as one. James pulled her in closer, deepening the kiss with passion as he fisted his hand in her hair, his metal hand clutching her back as if she were a life line and he might drown if he let her go. He plundered her mouth with his tongue as her hands grasped around his biceps and then moved to his shoulders and around his neck. Her kiss streamed forth as she won dominance and explored his mouth, her tongue chasing his back into its sanctum. He pulled her fully into his lap as their lips ebbed and flowed against each other, again and again, over and over, tasting the sweet nectar that the other could only provide.

When their lips finally released their claim, they held each other, forehead to forehead and then with their heads tucked into each other shoulders.

When minutes turned into hours they moved as one into the bed, tangling their limbs together beneath the blanket holding each other through the night, neither wanting to let go of the salvation of the others embrace.

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><p>AN: ástin mínn: my love love of my life

Next chapter: We tag along as Bucky and Hela raze the Hydra base they were targeting. Thor has to air some of his family's dirty laundry to the other Avengers and revelations are made.

Please keep the comments coming and let me know what you think. The comments are really motivating the flow of ideas for this story.


	4. Chapter 4

Some people may never meet their soul mate. Fate changes, the universe doesn't align...whatever. Clint wishes _he_ never met his soul mate. Once SHIELD crumbled there was a scramble for resources. People took their favorite weapons from the armory; cash went unaccounted for, even boots and thermal suits went missing from various SHIELD bases. What did Clint take…Soul Mark Concealment Patches in skin tone 3B; 4 cases worth. These mesh patches were used to conceal soul marks on missions. Clint had begun using these to cover his soul mark all the time. He didn't want to see it anymore and he didn't want anyone else to see it either. The phrase that used to give him hope that someone, one day, would see something worthwhile in him, was now just a bitter reminder that happy endings don't really exist for people like him. He took a patch from one of the smaller boxes inside the open case. 4 cases would last him a couple of years, especially since he could cut one patch into four smaller strips that would still cover his mark. Maybe once he started running low he could ask Tony if Stark Industries could produce something like this, or maybe another company might be producing them by then. He spread the patch out over the phrase that was neatly scripted at the very top of his right thigh and finished getting dressed.

They had all agreed to help Cap track the Winter Soldier, who was apparently his best friend Bucky Barnes, and Stark had opened up the Tower to them all. Apparently the Avengers was a thing now and Stark was bankrolling the operation. It worked for him and he had no complaints yet. He headed up to the common floor so they could comb through any intel that came in.

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><p>Hela's ability to teleport allowed them to appear inside the base, instead of trying to fight their way into the facility. While it was easy to enter a safe house that way; a base, no matter how small, needed to be entered with as little commotion as possible. They appeared in the basement in the far corner of a large storage room, as planned.<p>

They moved side by side. Hela covering the right and the low spots, James covering the left and the high spots. They cleared the basement quickly and made their way to the middle floor. They quickly moved throughout the floor, taking out Hydra agents on the spot without question. The operatives found their bullets useless against Hela and they bounced off the defensive shield around James. Hela flung two small daggers that hit agents coming out of a doorway into their path. James kicked an agent across the room who tried to hit him with a lead weapon casing as if it were a pipe. When the agent hit the wall, Hela gave him 2 quick jabs in the chest with the dagger in her hand. Another operative tried to yank Hela by her hair from behind. She flipped him over and kicked him mid-air. James caught him and snapped his neck on the way down. They continued down the hall towards the stairs, shooting Hydra agents they came across.

They made their way up to the top floor. Making quick work of the few agents on this floor, they made their way to the room that held the servers for the base. James worked on a computer while Hela guarded the door. Two agents tried to enter, but she struck them down with a surge of energy from her fingers. James copied all of the files from the servers to a drive he was going to take with him and then wiped the servers. James took over the watch as Hela weaved a spell and launched an electrical surge through the system, destroying all of the computers and the surveillance recording equipment.

Once the data was secured and the computers destroyed, they made their way back down the floors to gather anything that could be of use to them. James gathered more ammunition and some medical supplies. They secured approximately $10,000 in a mix US dollars and Euros. James loaded up their bounty in transport bags from the base, each taking one to carry. When they were ready to leave, Hela molded her body against James and wrapped an arm around his neck. He held her tight around the waist with his flesh hand and she teleported them back to the hotel room they had been staying in.

After showers and changing, they went out to secure a new laptop so they could access the files they took from the Hydra computers.

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><p>The message came in through Maria Hill who was coordinating information exchanges with pockets of agents loyal to SHIELD, other federal agencies and the Avengers (to keep them in the loop). What apparently was a small Hydra base on the outskirts of Philadelphia had been hit and destroyed. It had just happened about an hour ago and was close enough for the Avengers to check out. They were going to look for any similarities between this and the safe houses that had been razed the past couple of days and see if there any clues here that others might overlook.<p>

When they arrived on scene, bodies of the Hydra operatives still lay strewn about, having not be collected yet. The FBI had shown up and was keeping the scene intact, so that Avengers could see things exactly how they were left. Other government agencies had been coming in and handling situations here and there that SHIELD would have normally dealt with, until some sort of order was reestablished. Fury wanted SHIELD rebuilt and rumor had it that he wanted to Coulson to do it. Until that happened, someone had to clean up messes like this.

They had expected to see dead Hydra agents, so that really wasn't a surprise. Thor, however, had an unsure look on his face as they entered the compound, which from the outside, looked like an office building. They followed the trail of destruction into the room that housed the computers and servers which were still smoking from an electrical surge that coursed through them. Thor's expression changed to one of sheer perplexity as he looked around the room. After a few moments, he walked over to a couple of the dead operatives that were in the doorway, as if they had tried to enter while the assailant was in this room. He looked at their wounds as if seeking confirmation. He rose and looked at his teammates who had followed his movements.

"You got something, big guy?" Tony asked.

"Aye, but it is information that needs background for you to understand. It is best we discuss this back at our headquarters." Thor said.

"What's going on, Thor?" Natasha asked.

"I believe my niece has been here. I can sense the lingering energy from her magic. The residual traces are strong in this room and these men here have been hit with a magical discharge. I will explain further when we are in a location where we can speak in confidence." He answered.

"Okay, let's finish up here and head back to the Tower." Steve told everyone.

* * *

><p>The Avengers settled into the couches and chairs around the common room on the shared floor of Stark Tower.<p>

"Alright, lay it on us, big man." Tony said.

"Every sorcerer has a unique signature to their seiðr. It's something other sorcerers can sense or feel. My knowledge of seiðr is very limited; but I can sense the seiðr of my family quite well. My niece was in that building today. I felt just a hint of it when we entered the compound but upon entering the room with the computers it was stronger and more evident. I believe she was the one who destroyed the computers and killed those agents in the doorway of the room."

"Why would your niece be on Earth and in a Hydra base?" Natasha asked.

"I am not sure why Hela was there, but Heimdall had caught a glimpse of her on Midgard earlier this week. She usually is hidden from Heimdall but her concealment spell must have disrupted enough that he was able to see her." Thor explained.

"So what, no one noticed she was gone and hadn't come back?" Clint asked.

Thor shook his head, sadly. "My friends, Hela has been gone from Asgard since shortly after Loki attempted to end his life by falling into the Void between realms. Anger and sorrow about Loki's choice consumed her and there were many gossip mongers speaking ills about him amongst the court. We did not realize what her melancholy would drive her to do. She concealed herself from Heimdall and left Asgard without informing anyone. We hear about her whereabouts periodically from others who see or interact with her and pass word along to our family; but we have not had any actual contact with her in these 2 years. I am unsure if she knows of her father's survival or of what transpired on Midgard with the Chitauri. Loki knows of her departure and I inform him of when we hear news of her. He was just as surprised as I to hear that she was seen on Midgard."

"Thor, did you say her name was Hela?" Steve said, slight disbelief tinging his tone.

"Aye." Thor answered.

"I don't want to ask how old she is, because that's not going to have much meaning for us. But is she grown, is she a child?" Bruce asked.

"Ah yes, saying she is 483 will have little meaning to you. There is not a precise ratio we can use to equate ages the ages of Aesir and Midgardians because the rate of aging is not constant in our race. She is past the age of majority in Asgard. She is comparable in age to the Lady Darcy, assistant to my Jane." Thor had a warm smile on his. "She greatly resembles my brother in appearance and in her skill with seiðr. There is no mistaking her as his daughter."

"Um, Thor, do you have soul mates on Asgard?" Steve questioned again.

"Yes, my friend, we do. The soul mate bond is something sacred to us." Thor unbuttoned his shirt and showed the group the words on his left pectoral area, 'Do me a favor and don't be dead.'

There were chuckles all around, the group being familiar with the story of Jane Foster and her crew hitting Thor with their truck when he first landed on Earth.

"I must admit, my friends, when the words first appeared, many were concerned; believing that something grave was going to occur. It was my niece who brought light to those words suggesting that perhaps I would be overly intoxicated when I met my soul mate. I have not had the chance to tell her that those words were said because my soul mate struck me with her vehicle." Thor smiled. Thor looked to Steve. "Steven, something is troubling you."

"Yeah Steve, looks like you've seen a ghost." Bruce added.

"Bucky's…" Steve's voice broke a little. "Bucky's soul mark had the name Hela in it." Steve looked down at the floor as he continued. "We used to joke about where she was during this particular cold winter in '38, because in part of the wording she offers him a blanket. I used to say 'we could really use that blanket now, don't you think'. Thor, do you know what hers says?"

"Aye, Steve." Thor nodded his head, looking solemn. "Hela's soul mark says 'Am I Safe'?

Steve's eyes filled with tears.

"Steve, what does Bucky's say?" Natasha asked.

Steve's breathe hitched, "It says 'You are safe with me. My name is Hela.' And then she says she has a blanket if he needs it."

Thor got up and kneeled down in front of Steve. "Steven, I know in my heart, he is safe with her. Hela's soul mark appeared when she first entered adolescence, near a hundred years ago. Loki instilled upon her the importance of those three words on her skin. He taught her and trained her and sent her away to study in many areas so that when her soul mate asked her that question, she would be sure of her answer. She will help him, Steven. She will not let Hydra take him."

"Apparently, she will help him kill Hydra agents and destroy their facilities, too." Clint said.

"Verily. If the wounds that Hydra had inflicted on your friend are revealed to her, her vengeance will be mighty and she will act upon it. She is my brother's daughter, after all." Thor agreed.

Clint snorted and gave a slight eye roll.

"Can't you contact her and get her to bring him home?" Steve pleaded.

"My friend, if I could contact Hela, I would have when she first left Asgard. I would have when we discovered Loki was alive and found him on your world. I would have made her come with me to Midgard to bring him back." Thor countered.

"I know. I'm sorry." Steve whispered.

"Worry not, my brother-in-arms. I know the determination behind your desire to bring your friend back to you." Thor consoled.

"So we are looking for a tandem that can apparently take out a small Hydra base together." Natasha said.

"Thor, what else can the spawn of Loki do other fry computers and zap Hydra goons?" Tony inquired.

"The list is quite extensive. Like Loki she can cast illusions and conjure items, manipulate energy, along with a host of spell-casting that is too lengthy to name. She can teleport and can use astral projection. She can levitate. She has the durability of any Aesir and has the same healing ability has us. She has the speed and agility of her father and her strength is remarkable. She is one of my favorite sparring partners because of this combination. Loki managed her combat training and taught her his manner of fighting. She is skilled at throwing daggers and using magic in addition to her hand-to-hand tactics. She is a fearsome opponent and a formidable ally." Thor sounded like a proud uncle bragging about his niece.

"Holy shit! And you say Loki is more powerful than that?" Tony exclaimed.

"Aye, Stark. Loki was Hela mentor is her studies in seiðr. He sent her to the healers in Asgard to study healing of the body and to Vannaheim to study the healing of the mind. Loki has had quite a few more centuries than Hela to hone his practice." Thor responded.

"So do you think she could teleport another person with her?" Steve asked.

"Oh I know that she can. Loki specifically taught her to transport another and saw to it that her magic was strengthened enough to do it easily." Thor answered.

"You think they teleported into that base, Cap?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. I think they started in the basement and caught the operatives unaware. The take down was quick and efficient. Hela must have watched the door while Bucky wiped the computers and then she fried them." Steve reasoned.

"So what's our next move?" Clint followed up.

Steve transitioned in to Captain mode. "Bucky's still a ghost right now. We need to work against Hydra, ourselves. Sharon is decrypting some files from the corrupted SHIELD servers. We've got the locations of a couple potential Hydra sites. It's time we clean some of these out. I want prisoners that can be interrogated. Widow and Hawkeye, I want you heading that up. Tony and Bruce, I want you guys to get as much data off anything we come across. Thor, I want you to keep an eye on things and see if there is any opening for contact or following them. We meet in the conference room in 1 hour for mission prep on our first strike."

* * *

><p>James sat at the small table in their hotel room, running through the files he obtained from their strike today. He was only wearing pants and was sitting on a cushioned stool that Hela had swapped with one of the dining chairs at the table. Her fingers were divine as she worked over the muscles of his back and neck. She would periodically move over his right shoulder and then work her way back up to his neck and then journeyed down his back. Her touch was grounding and helped pull him out of the Winter Soldier mind set. He could feel her warm breath on his neck when she leaded closer to work out a knot in his shoulder. More than once he had to close his eyes when he was lost in the sensation of her strong, yet gentle hands all over him. He sighed out loud when she started to card her fingers through his hair. He needed to finish up his search because he was losing the ability to focus on anything else other than the light touches on his scalp and the soft press of her body behind him. This incredible, beautiful, sexy woman could make him forget and make him remember all at once.<p>

She began peppering kisses across his shoulders, both of them. "You make me feel alive; like I have a purpose. I've been wandering for so long; I've been lost and you found me." She whispered in his ear. "I know that I ground you, but you ground me too. I feel safe when I'm with you. You keep my nightmares away." She moved to whisper in his other ear. "Why don't you show me what you have found, we take our evening meal and then you let me continue to make your body feel good."

James nodded his head in agreement and pulled Hela around to his front, sitting her on his lap so that she faced the laptop screen. He put his chin on her shoulder and pulled an image up on the screen. A photo of the chair that he was strapped into when they wiped his memory was displayed. "There are 5 of these. We have to destroy them all." He said.

"You know where there are?" She asked.

"Yes. The first one we are going to take out is in Russia." He answered then turned her head to capture her lips. As he pulled away from her lips, he looked into her eyes. "You are the dawn after the darkest night." He told her before he kissed her again.

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

Sorry to cut it off there, but...next chapter will start with some light smut.

I used the Marvel Wiki for a rundown of Hela's abilities. In that synopsis, they indicate that Hela could go toe to toe with Thor. 

I have created a notebook on Evernote that has pics of what I envision my Hela looks like. I see her more of kind of looking like a Lady Loki (without the damn horns, lol). You can view it at this address.  
>evernote dot com pub/jthomp7671098/whatienvisionmyhelalookslike

Thank you so much for the kudos, comments, subscriptions and bookmarks. Let me know what you think so far.


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